Lit 101

Because ?!?!?!?! is for hacks, we bring you the interobang. Wikipedia explains:

The interrobang or interabang, ‽, is a nonstandard English-language punctuation mark intended to combine the functions of the question mark (also called the interrogative point) and the exclamation mark or exclamation point (known in printers' jargon as the bang). The ligature is a superimposition of those two marks.

The interobang was invented 1962 by an advertising executive, but today is the first we've heard of it. We have Newspaper Escape Plan to thank for our punctuation education.

Someone turned two years of tweets into a book. Self-published, of course, and not for general release. The author, design and marketing consultant James Bridle, explains the reasons for creating the tweetbook on his blog, booktwo.org:

I wanted to test Lulu's capacity for hardback books, to continue experimenting with the literary cornucopia machine, and to see if you could make a traditional diary/journal in retrospect. And you can, and it's quite nice (apart from some weird kerning issues). No, most of it doesn't mean anything, certainly not to anyone else, but it makes physical a very real time and effort.

Kerning is a typographical term. Something to do with the space between letters. This guy is hardcore, is what we're saying.

Know someone who wants to ace the SAT but doesn't give a damn when the third train carrying the iguanas will arrive at the station? Then put your faith -- and SAT score -- in the capable hands of Charles Horn, PhD, Emmy-nominated writer (Robot Chicken) and, of course, SAT prep tutor.

Horn has a new book out, The Laugh Out Loud Guide: Ace the SAT Exam without Boring Yourself to Sleep! (Andrews McMeel). It's filled with standard-issue formulas twisted into ironic oblivion:

1. Yo Momma so _______, when you mail her a letter, you need two zip codes.

(A) diaphanous
(B) luminous
(C) ravenous
(D) grisly
(E) corpulent

2. Let x, y, and z equal the number of times Veronica, Ben, and Debbie respectively want to punch Terry in the face because he uses "LOL" in actual conversation instead of just in text messages and e-mails. If the average (arithmetic mean) of x and y is 4, and the average of x, y, and z is 10, what is the value of z?

We met Horn two years ago at Math Club. He was nice enough to talk to us then, and he's nice enough (and in enough need of free publicity) to talk to us again:

continued...

The beloved author of The Andromeda Strain, and Jurassic Park and the creator of ER, Michael Crichton died yesterday after a private battle with cancer. More here.

This missive arrived in our in-box, promoting the blog www.firstwivesworld.com.

An Open Letter To Saturday Night Live From www.firstwivesworld.com

Debbie Nigro, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Girlfriend of First Wives World, wants the Producers at Saturday Night Live, to know that she doesn't like the word "Cougar" because it denotes "Bimbos, Floozies, Older Women who can't attract men their own age."

In case you didn't know it, Saturday Night Live has an ongoing "Cougar" skit, starring Cameron Diaz, that is quite funny and cutting edge.

However, the head cheerleader of the 30 million women in the United States who are transitioning through divorce is quick to point that times are a-changing.

"Separate/divorced women nowadays are reinventing themselves, exploring new options," explains Debbie. "Older men who are leaking testosterone are more often in search of arm candy to validate their masculinity. Younger men, who can hold up their end of the stick, seem to find us fascinating. Who are we to discourage them?"

Debbie warns SNL that they are on to something big. "The 'Cougar' trend is about to pick up speed ... but for the record, they all don't look like Cameron Diaz."

Check out Debbie's full blog on "Cougars" at www.firstwivesworld.com

Debbie is available for interviews when she is not picking up her boyfriends at their parents' homes.

Young adult authors -- like Judy Blume Meg Cabot, Holly Black, Libba Bray, Scott Westerfeld, Megan McCafferty, Melissa Walker and more -- are launching YA for Obama, a social networking project for writers and their young readers who support Barack Obama.

About 50 writers have signed on so far, and the site goes live on Monday, Sept. 22. Daily blog posts will feature different writers, with readers able to make their own pages, talk in forums and contribute video and photos.

"The idea came from the simple realization that so many Young Adult authors seem to be for Obama," Maureen Johnson says in a release. "While this site is for readers of all ages (and even nationalities), there will be a lot of emphasis on giving readers who are under 18 a place in the process. Those are our people, and they want to be a part of this election. While they can't vote, they can certainly use their energy and talents to get others to do so -- putting up signs, making videos, or badgering their family members to the polls."

We love the enthusiasm, but if you really want to turn an election, park Obama-rama vans along the perimeters of Colorado, Nevada and Indiana and give out Dark Knight bootlegs to anybody sporting peach fuzz and acne.

Early reports say that the celebrated writer hung himself.

A memorial is planned at Pomona College where Wallace taught.

This is a Brian Ross report on Sarah Palin's stint as mayor of a small town and harasser of librarians.

We think it's funny that she wanted to remove Go Ask Alice, a book about an out of control sexually promiscuous teenager...hehe.

Maybe she had to control information because she is so close to Russia...

In their new book, Impotence in the Boardroom: MySpace Caught an STD, marketing experts Yvette Bowlin and Sonni Carr explore what they call "strategically transmitted diseases" (Or STDs, natch) to explain why some brands just, you know, suck. From the press release:

Bowlin and Carr take readers inside the doors of MySpace and recount the events of a 2006 meeting between the authors and MySpace executives. The two create a case study to show how MySpace has become a one-hit wonder reaching 'has-been' status as quickly as stardom--all because it chose to ignore the fate of feature fatigue. Even this behemoth of a company that became the topic of every lunch conversation and found its way into almost every advertising budget, isn't indestructible. Subject to the fickle audience to which it catered, MySpace.com needed a salvaging opportunity--fast! The authors tell the company's promising beginnings to its pending doom and how MySpace executives rejected an exciting, intriguing opportunity that would have repositioned them as the leader in social impacting, and instead, settled for 'safe and sorry.' Bowlin and Carr, the Opportunity Analysts, also show how companies such as Dow, Citigroup, Cisco, Keen Footwear, MSN and Coca-Cola aren't making the same mistake and how they stay relevant, attractive and desirable in today's hormonally-charged marketplace.

Impotence? STDs? Hormonally-charged? We're no marketing experts, but isn't it bad practice to associate your message with lumps, bumps, pus and zits?

Sharon Waxman has the dirt on Joe Eszterhas, the former journo-turned-screenwriter who has recently reunited with the daughter he put up for adoption in 1967.